Government has stood by and allowed 'legalised price gouging' take hold, Labour TD says

With Ireland currently the third most expensive country in the EU for household energy prices, Mr Nash said Labour would focus on incrementally reducing energy costs over a period of time until it was in line with the EU average.

The Government had stood by and watched "forms of legalised price gouging" taking root, Labour TD Ged Nash has said.

Speaking at the launch of the party's cost-of-living action plan, Mr Nash accused the Government of "inaction and toothless regulation" in the face of a relentless rise in costs. 

Outlining measures Labour is proposing to "restore fairness and economic stability", the plan includes automatic increases of income tax credits and social welfare payments to, at a minimum, beat inflation and introduce a living wage of €14.80. 

Mr Nash said if Labour was in government it would appoint a minister of state for consumer protection and give the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission stronger powers to investigate price gouging.

With Ireland currently the third most expensive country in the EU for household energy prices, Mr Nash said Labour would focus on incrementally reducing energy costs over a period of time until it was in line with the EU average.

When pressed on how this would be achieved, Mr Nash said he did not have those details but said they would begin by carrying out an independent analysis to determine the cause of the high prices and then look to other countries to see how they have brought down their prices. 

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Also featured in the plan is banning automatic annual price increases in service contracts such as broadband and mobile phone services.

Mr Nash pointed to the UK as an example where the Ofcom regulator has banned providers from putting inflation of percentage-linked price rise terms into new contracts. 

Such "stealth price increases" allow companies to extract increased amounts from consumers who are locked into contracts, the plan says.